204-3281 discussion postings

This is incase I have to retake my 204 class Chapter 2 Do you believe that the methods of appointing judges are the best way to date? Why or why not? What are the advantages and disadvantages? In our society we have two different ways we appoint our judges which election and appointment.With the election we the people have a group of people to choose from which in the end usually ends up with only two on the ballet. Most people argue with this method because it is the democratic way of doing things. Showing that it is the third person's voice to which appointing the judge to office.The advantage to using election increases the diversity on the bench of judges. The second way of doing things is by having a chief executive, such as a governor, county, executive, or mayor grant the power to decide whom to appoint into the bench which many would call this "one-person-judicial selection". The disadvantage to this would be that no one else has a say into this so by possible of what I believe is that the person to be getting this is either paying the chief executive or they have been best buds for some time and are all apart of each others schemes. So I believe the best way to choose a new judge would to be by election. Election proves to the people that we have a choice no matter what to whom we want on the bench. Some sort of security to a real election makes the people more calm other then just telling someone to go and sit on the bench. Chapter 3 Presumptions are in an area of evidence law that arises where a fact may be presumed once one or more other facts are established on the record. The weight of a presumption depends on the credibility of underlying facts on which it is based, and some presumptions are rebuttable while others are not. Presumptions are the product of courts and legislatures that decide certain facts can be determined from other facts as a matter of law. Some presumptions arise as a matter of law while others arise merely by inference. An inference is a presumed fact, however, unlike a presumption, an inference arises not from the application of law but from common-sense reasoning. In court, the making of inferences often results in disaster, because inferences can be extremely far from the truth. Judicial notice is the obligation of a court to adjudge certain known facts upon the record of the case, provided that those facts are so generally known within the court’s jurisdiction. The court has discretion whether or not to take judicial notice of some matters once it is moved to do so, however in other matters it has no discretion and must take notice once a party makes the motion. All three function as evidence although they are not all frequently used. Chapter 5 Discussion Question: What are some exceptions to the right of privacy? Do you believe the Supreme Court's ruling of right to privacy is acceptable in our common society? Why or why not? In 1974 the privacy act was passed and it was also placed as on of the amendments in our bill of rights within the United States constitution The Fourth Amendment which explain no unreasonable searches or seizures. This act was also made famous because of the infamous terry vs ohio which is now known to many people as a terry stop. Thanks to weeks v. United States and the U.S. Supreme court in 1914 that established the Exclusionary Rule. The Exclusionary Rule prohibits the admission of all evidence obtained by law enforcement officers that is considered unconstitutional. A good exception to the right of privacy is that a warrant must be obtained by a judge that permits authorities to search the persons place of residence or where agreed upon by the warrant. I don't believe that the Supreme Court's ruling of right to privacy was acceptable at all. I feel as if because we are able to keep such secrets in our home that we are also able to hide a lot more from the authorities Usually if we have something to hide then we probably shouldn't be doing it in the first place. I feel as if cops should be able to just walk into someones home without a warrant. If you where a law-abiding citizen then there probably should be no reason to fear a cop coming into your home or work or residence. I feel like a warrant is a waste of time because by the time the person knows the cop wants inside for a certain thing that the person would have already vacated the premises or clean everything out of the house within the time frame given to obtain a search warrant. Chapter 6 In your opinion, should third-party consent be allowed in warrant-less searches? Give some examples to support your opinion. In my opinion third-party consent should only be allowed in warrant-less searches because not everyone would think it would be ok to actually go inside someone's house but yet another person would. To get a few other's opinions on the subject should be ideal. Under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution which is part of the Bill of Rights which says warentless searches are restricted. The Fourth Amendment says "The right of the people to be secure...against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath oraffirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." I feel as if this should protect us completely from any kind of search even if there would be to have probably cause. Probable cause doesn't seam like that is enough for a cop to come in without permission. Does the state pay for me to live in this house, NO. Does the cop own my residence and place of stay, NO. So why should they have the writes to just invite them selves in without a warrant and just do whatever they want. If I where to be the president I would get rid of probable cause. It is a bad law around the whole needing a warrant. Writing assignment Art DeWerk MADJU-204-3281 (3281) Legal Aspects Evidence 29 October 2012 Criminal Case: Death of Caylee Anthony The court case is against Casey Marie Anthony and is in regards to her daughter Caylee Marie Anthony who was found missing on July 15, 2008. Caylee Anthony’s skeletal remains were found in a wooded area near her home on December 11, 2008. During this time of about five months, Casey Anthony was charged and tried for the first-degree murder of Caylee. Casey Anthony had a few stories to tell the cops; which lead nowhere and where she fabricated evidence that led to her only getting away with a misdemeanor. Caylee Marie Anthony was a two-year-old child who lived in Orlando Florida and possibly also died there as well. She lived with her mother Casey Marie Anthony who was a single 22-year-old mother and her two grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony. On the day of July 15th of 2008, Caylee was reported missing by her grandmother Cindy Anthony who reported that she hasn’t seen Caylee Anthony for about 31 days. She had also reported to 9-1-1 that Casey Anthony’s car had smelt like a dead body was inside it and that Casey had not seen her own daughter for a few weeks. On June 9th 2008 Casey Anthony had fabricated a fake story about her daughters disappearance. She had stated to detectives that a fictitious nanny had kidnapped her child and that she had been trying to find her. She had also told the detectives that she was too frightened to alert the authorities. This story led to a later misdemeanor in fabrication of story. While the child was still missing, Casey Anthony was charged with first-degree murder in October that would have led the prosecution to the death penalty. A few months later on December 11, Caylee Anthony’s skeletal remains were found with a blanket inside a trash bag in a wooded area just around the block in a wooded swamp area near the family’s home. A medical investigator ruled death by homicide because there was duct tape found near the front of the skull and on the mouth of the skull. This ended up officially becoming listed as “death by undetermined means”. The medical examiner had put to court that Casey Anthony murdered her daughter by administering chloroform, then applying duct tape. The court had believed that she wanted to rid herself from the parental obligations and responsibilities of having a child since she was at the time only twenty-two. After all, a defense team and the leader of the defense team Jose Baez, found that Caylee Anthony had drowned accidentally in the family’s swimming pool on June 16, 2008. Most of the evidence that Casey Anthony had told the detectives where found to be “fantasy forensics” and had said Caylee was sexually abused by her biological father and lied about the dysfunctional upbringing since she was a single mother. Casey ended up not testifying during the trial about these assumptions. The trial of Caylee’s death went on for six weeks, from May to July 2011. Casey Anthony was looking at the death penalty of first-degree murder with all the misleads of stories she fabricated. But on July 5th 2011 Casey Anthony’s jury had found her to be not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter of a child, but the jury did find her guilty of four misdemeanor counts. She was given misdemeanors for providing false information to a law enforcement officer. Since Casey Anthony was held in jail for a few years already, that gave her credit to get released out of jail on July 17th. She spent only about twelve days in jail after the court hearing. During this time the public had became outraged at the fact that she was released; which the media had both attacked and defended her with legal commentators. The public had also complained that the jury misunderstood the meaning of reasonable doubt, and another said the trial was inconclusive because forensics could not figure out how Caylee Anthony had officially died since they had only found a bag of bones. In this case there was a massive amount of evidence that showd me that Casey Marie Anthony should have been the person who took the first-degree murder prosecution. Caylee’s case had over four hundred pieces of evidence brought to the court. The fact that they had found dead human hair in the back of her trunk belonging to Caylee and chemicals that can decompose a body showed significant signs that Casey was guilty. Also her car smelled like dead human remains. Just knowing the evidence found in her car and the fact that the remains of her daughter were found only around the block, really should push the red button that alerts someone that she in fact did the crime and needs to pay the time.